懲役刑と禁錮刑を一元化して「拘禁刑」を新設する改正刑法が参議院本会議で可決・成立しました。
➣A plenary session of the House of the Councilors has passed a revision to the penal code （刑法）to integrate two categories of confinement--“choeki” and “kinko”--into one called “kokin.”
※confinement=監禁 ➾imprisonment
懲役と禁固の違いは、刑務作業があるかないかです。
➣Choeki, which means imprisonment with prison labor. Choeki obliges prisoners to carry out designated work. Kinko, in comparison, means imprisonment without labor.
2020年、16000人余りの囚人のうち禁錮刑は約50人ですが、大半は自ら望んで作業をしました。
➣Among newly imprisoned inmates in 2020, only 0.3% were not sentenced to imprisonment with labor. Of those who were sentenced to imprisonment without work, about 80% engaged in such labor of their own volition.
※inmate=囚人、（病院・刑務所などの）収容者 in中の＋mate仲間
➾convict/ the convicted有罪になった人
※volition 〔意思の力による〕選択、決定、決断＝will
of／out of one's own volition=自主的に、自ら進んで［選んで］
刑法成立から115年。懲役と禁固の差があいまいになってきています。
➣Now, 115 years after the enactment of the Penal Code, the line between imprisonment with and without labor has become blurred.
※blur=ぼやけさせる、かすませる、（区別などを）曖昧にする
➣There is seen to be less need to differentiate between “with labor” and “without labor,” and a greater need to focus on correction and prevention of recidivism.
※differentiate=〔～を〕識別［区別］する、差別化する、〔～に〕違いをつける
◇高齢化で、体力的にも認知機能上も、作業が困難な囚人も増えています。
➣Inmates in Japanese prisons are graying, with 2,143 of them aged 65 or older in the year 2020, or 140% more than the number in 2000. Some are having difficulty engaging in normal prison work due to reduced physical strength and cognitive function.
※cognitive function 認知機能
◇そして近年、再犯率は増加しています。
➣The worsening recidivism rates were also a major factor for the revision. Of those detained by police for criminal offenses in 2020, the recidivism rate reached a record high of 49.1%.
※recidivism rate再犯率、累犯率 recidivism悪事を繰り返すこと、犯罪を重ねること、累犯、常習的な悪行
動詞=recidivate ラテン語で元の状態に戻る、再び転落する recidivist常習犯人（の）
改定目的は、犯罪者の懲罰ではなく更生に力を入れることです。
➣The change is aimed at promoting the rehabilitation of criminals by providing programs better suited to the needs and characteristics of individual prisoners.
見出し：Possible revision to Japan's Penal Code to emphasize rehabilitation over retribution
※rehabilitation傷病者の機能回復訓練、職業訓練および社会的支援活動、犯罪者などの更生➾矯正correction
※retribution （特に悪業などに対する相当の)報い、仕返し、報復
➣Punishments under the current Penal Code are aimed at preventing recidivism and, in essence, have long been interpreted as a form of retribution. But in recent years, the concept of rehabilitation has begun to win ground over punishment.
